Review: REO Speedwagon, Chicago rock the SPAC stage
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Chicago and REO Speedwagon rolled their co-headlining tour through town on Tuesday, bringing two types of rock to the SPAC stage.
The bands, each with a distinctly different sound, played for a diverse crowd of fans on Tuesday evening at Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs.
After a short opening set by Michael Tolcher, who took the stage solo with an acoustic guitar, REO Speedwagon started the party with a loud, high energy rock ’n’ roll performance.
Ballad-y 1980s radio hits like “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Keep on Loving You” and “Take It On The Run” were the softer spots in the band’s set, which also featured some heavier tunes such as “Riding The Storm Out” and the memorable “Back On The Road Again,” the only song of the night with lead vocals by bassist Bruce Hall.
REO’s show concluded with a tribute to the late Tom Petty, a rendition of his song “Listen To Her Heart.”
Chicago changed the mood upon taking the stage, playing to the smooth rock listeners with a softer, more polished sound, and as always some special attention on the horn section.
Tuesday night’s talent-filled Chicago lineup consisted of founding members Robert Lamm on keyboard and vocals, trumpeter Lee Loughnane, trombonist James Pankow and woodwind player Walter Parazaider along with Wally Reyes, Jr., Keith Howland, Lou Pardini, Ray Herrmann, Neil Donell, Brett Simons and Ramon “Ray” Yslas.
Each of these musicians had their moment in the spotlight within the group’s nearly twohour set, split into one segment strictly focused on its breakthrough album Chicago II (being considered for the Grammy Hall Of Fame, where the group’s first album already resides), and another to fit in the band’s best hits.
Once chart-topping songs like “25 or 6 to 4,” “Hard To Say I’m Sorry,” “If You Leave Me Now,” “You’re the Inspiration” and “Saturday In The Park” were highlights of the night.
Though an unlikely pair, one thing co-headling acts Chicago and REO Speedwagon certainly have in common is era.
Each of the bands originally formed more than a half-century ago in 1967, in Illinois, then went on to have long lasting careers throughout the decades, with particular commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s.
From their many combined years out on the road, members of both bands each had fond memories of playing in Saratoga Springs.
“Every time we come to Saratoga we have fun,” REO Speedwagon frontman Kevin Cronin said, with a funny anecdote about causing destruction in a local hotel in 1981.
Likewise, Lamm said, “We always remember this place from the first time we played here,” estimating that Chicago made its SPAC debut around 1970.
Though the two acts certainly have their differences in sound, show-goers were sure happy they came together to perform in the Spa City once again.